History

1900-1917

1907 — Maud H. Mellish Wilson is appointed to organize and develop a medical library.

1907 — First library committee is established with Dr. A.H. Sanford, who serves as chair until 1942.

1909 — A separate library building is erected on the present site of the Plummer Building. This was the first building erected solely for use by the medical practice. Other offices were rented at that time.

1914 — The first building called Mayo Clinic is constructed for the clinical practice. The library collection of 4,000 volumes moves to this location.

1918-1927

1920 — Violet Vistadt is hired as Plummer Library reference librarian; she serves in this capacity for 46 years.

1921 — Colonial Hospital Training School for Nurses changed its name to Kahler Hospitals' School of Nursing when it became a 36-month diploma program for professional nursing. A very small library is established in a 12-foot-square room in the freshman dormitory.

1947 — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, a classic set from 1665, is purchased.

1947 — The projected book system is implemented for hospitalized patients who are visually impaired.

1948-1957

1948 — Linguaphone language self-study courses are purchased so that patrons can learn French, German and Spanish.

1949 — Instructional film titled "The Mayo Clinic Library: An Introduction to Its Use" is created.

1954 — Mrs. Henry (Daisy) Plummer works with library staff to select books from Dr. Henry S. Plummer's collection to be donated to the library upon her death.

1956 — The library expands to fill the 11th through 16th floors of the Plummer Building, increasing floor space to 30,000 square feet.

1956 — The first full-time librarian is hired for the Methodist-Kahler School of Nursing. The library continued to grow and was moved several times as the number of students increased and the institution evolved.

1957 — Mayo Medical Library celebrates its 50th anniversary.

1958-1967

History of Medicine Library exhibit

1958 — The library volunteer program is established for the Saint Marys Hospital Patients' Library.

1959 — President Eisenhower appoints Mayo Clinic librarian Thomas E. Keys to the board of regents of the National Library of Medicine.

1961 — The library literature research program is established. Librarians begin using appropriate indexes to locate topical information for the medical staff.

1998-2007

1998 — Audiovisual materials and searchable book table of contents are added to the library catalog. With the inclusion of this information, the library management system reaches approximately 330,000 total volumes, encompassing Mayo Clinic's campuses in Jacksonville, Florida; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona; and Rochester, Minnesota.

2006 — Minnesota Go Local project with links to the National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus system is initiated with the University of Minnesota Health Science Libraries and other partners.

2006 — The Core Public Health Journal Project receives the 2006 Louise Darling Medal for the Distinguished Achievement in Collection Development in the Health Sciences at the Medical Library Association annual meeting. Mayo is represented on this team.

2010 — Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, with the assistance of the Mayo Historical Unit and Mayo Clinic Libraries, hosts the joint annual meetings of the American Osler Society, the American Association for the History of Medicine and several other groups.

2011 — The newly named Saint Marys Hospital Library and Knowledge Services celebrates the completion of a major renovation with a library blessing, a dessert reception and open house events.

2011 — Mayo Clinic is ranked nationally by the Special Libraries Association for its high rate of librarian-authored substantive research and professional practice publications in leading library science journals from 2000 through 2010.

2014 — J. Michael Homan retires as Mayo Clinic Libraries director in December 2014 after 20 years at Mayo Clinic.

2015 — In recognition of the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. W. Bruce Fye to Mayo Clinic, the History of Medicine Library is named the W. Bruce Fye History of Medicine Library.

2016 — Anna Beth Morgan is named the new executive director of the Mayo Clinic Libraries with her leadership beginning March 7, 2016.

2016 — All library and historical employees participate in a new Mayo Clinic-wide strategic planning process. Employees volunteer to serve on teams to accomplish the libraries' seven strategic goals and their 49 related initiatives.

2017 — Approval is granted to implement Library Ambassadors, a hospitality and information service, using the main reception area of the Mayo Clinic's Plummer Building. The service is scheduled to begin after the Labor Day holiday.

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